Conveyer



Nov. 20, 1951 Original Filed March 23, 1944 R. L. GRIFFIN ETAL CONVEYER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 20, 1951 V RJL. GRIFFIN EI'AL CONVEYER Original Filed March 23, 1944 R. L. GRIFFIN ETAL Nov. 20, 1951 CONVEYER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed March 25, 1944 Nov. 20, 1951 R. L. GRIFFIN Er-m. 2,575,914

CONVEYER Original Filed March 2:5, i44 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Nov. 20, 1951 CONVEYER Roger L. Griflin, Marblehead, and Norman Y.

Moore, Danvers, Mass., assignors to A. 0. Lawrence Leather Company, Peabody, Mass., a corporation of Maine Original application March 23, 1944, Serial No.

527,706, now Patent No. 2,488,907, dated November 22, 1949. Divided and this application November 23, 1946, Serial No. 712,010

Claims. I

The present invention relates to conveying apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for conveying fiat, rigid articles such, for example, as boards or plates upon which tanned skins are stretched for drying.

The object of the present invention is to provide a conveying apparatus of the above type in which the articles are propelled along the conveyor by power means occupying but a relatively short section of the conveyor, the other articles or boards on the conveyor being propelled by contact with one another from the board or boards being propelled directly by the power means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveying apparatus in which the arti cles are propelled directly by the power means and independently of the supporting means.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a conveying apparatus in which the flat, rigid articles are supported vertically and are propelled edgewise by power means engaging the bottom edges of the articles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveying apparatus in which generally fiat and rigid articles of varying thickness in different portions are propelled by power means which yieldingly engage opposite faces of the articles.

To the above ends the present invention consists in the devices and combinations of devices herein described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the conveying apparatus shown and described in the applicants co-pending application Serial No. 527,706, filed March 23, 1944, now Patent No. 2,488,907, dated November 22. 1949, of which the present application is a division, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a complete conveyor for conveying plates for supporting tanned hides and skins and embodying the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the conveyor showing one form of propelling or feeding mechanism for the plates, and Fig. 4 is a top plan view, and Fig. 5 a vertical transverse sectional view of the same looking from the right of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a side elevation, partly in section, and Fig. 7 a top plan view, partly in section on line 'I-l of Fig. 6, of

another form of power feeding mechanism; Figs. 8 and 9 aredetails in side elevation and vertical transverse section, respectively, of the trolley or plate carrying devices; and Fig. 10 is a horizontal section on line III-l0 of Fig. 3 showing the contact members or bumpers on the front and rear edges of adjacent plates.

The present invention, which is illustrated in the drawings as embodied in a pasting machine, comprises a closed orbit conveyor system with overhead track and trolleys upon which the skin-receiving plates are permanently suspended. These plates are advanced by a power feed mechanism which operates directly upon the plates and independently of the supporting means. The power feed mechanism operates upon never more than two plates at a time, but as these are propelled forwardly, they in turn propel by direct contact the other plates ahead of them carrying one plate after another through the washing, drying and pasting units and past the skin-applying station.

From the skin applying station the plates are advanced by hand to the drier, through which they are slowl passed under power, such advance being controlled by the operator at the discharge end of the drier who withdraws the plates, strips the dried skins therefrom, and returns them to the starting point, thus completing the cycle of operation.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings,

which show more or less diagrammatically they complete system or apparatus, and assuming point 25 at the right hand end of the apparatus as the starting point of the cycle, the plates 21.

supported from the trolleys 29 on the overhead,

conveyor track 3|, are advanced by hand to the power feed unit or station 33. Here they are engaged and supported at their bottom edges by rolls driven by motor. Each board as it is advanced by the drive in turn engages the board just ahead of it and advances that board as well as all of the other boards through or past the washing unit 39, drying or squeegee unit 4!, paste applying unit 43, and the long skin-applying or stretching unit 45, which, as shown in Fig.

1, is of sufiicient length to accommodate five,

plates, each carrying a pair of skins on each side.

As the plates with the pasted skins are discharged from the stretching unit 45, they are pushed by hand along the short connecting section 59 of the conveyor, over the switch SI and into the drier 63 where the are supported upon two conveyor tracks 65 and 6'! transversely of the same in close relation.

The power drive 33 which advances the plates through the washing, drying, pasting and stretching stations, is shown in enlarged detail in Figs. 4 and 5, and comprises three V-grooved feed rolls- 13, I5, and I1 mountedon shafts l8; l9 and 80,

3 respectively, supported in bearings 3| carried by the supporting plates 82 and 83. Feed roll 73 is loose upon shaft E8, but is arranged to be driven'therefrom by a one-direction clutch comprising the ratchet Wheel Ell fixed on the shaft and the cooperating pawl 76 piv-otally mounted on the roll 13. their respective shafts l9 and 8t. These feed rolls engage the bottom edge of the plate, raising.- the latter slightly so that practically the entire weightris applied on the rolls, thusgiving sufficient frictionto insure proper advance of the plate supported thereon and also of the series of plates ahead and passing through the washing, drying, pasting and stretching stations or units.

The feed roll 13 is driven by the motor at which is provided with a variable speed driving pulley 85 and adjusting hand wheel 85, of usual and-well known construction. A belt 87 transmits motion to the speed-reduction unit 88, and thesprocket and chain connection 59 tothe shaft 18 of the feed roll '53. The feed roll 15' is in turn driven by the chain and sprocket connection sl from the shaft, 13 of the feed roll 13, and the feed roll H is driven by a supplementary chain and sprocket connection 93 from the shaft 19 of the feed roll 15.

or series of plates until the rearwardly-spaced plate then driven by the unit contacts the rear plate of the stationary series.

In order to insure the positive driving of th plate as it is leaving the feed unit, the supporting plates 83 for the rolls l5 and W, are carried by a frame 94 pivotally mounted on the shaft 95 carried by the stationary members or lugs 91. Thus there will always be at least two of the rolls operating to drive the line of plates, as shown in Fig. 3, and for a part of the' time all three rolls, so that continuous and uniform advance will be insured.

The plates as they enter the feed drive unit are guided at their front edge by converging guides 99 supported upon the posts Hill in position to'engage the vertical portion of the metal 'molding strips H13, which cover the front or advancing edge as well as all other edges of the plate, and guide the bottom edge of the plate with its horizontal molding strip into the groove of feed roll 13 as shown in Fig. 5. As the plate engagesthe roll, the front end of the plate is slightly raised so that its weight is transferred from the trolley to the feed'roll, thus insuring sufl icient pressure togivepositive and uniform feeding movement to the plate.

On leaving the roll '53 the front edge of the plate passes between the vertical guides m5, see Fig. 4, which guide the bottom of the plate to thesecond feed roll '55, the parts just before, engagement being in the position shown in Fig. 3, with the front portion of the plate at that time supported by the trolley, and the rear portion by the roll 53. At this moment it will be noted that both plates shown in Fig. 3 are being driven by the feed rolls, the leading or lefthand plate by roll Ti, and the following or righthand plate by roll 73. As soon as theleadin Rolls l5 and ll are fixed upon loosely mounted upon their shafts plate alone.

edge of the following plate contacts the roll I5 and for a short time thereafter all three rolls will be driving, rolls l3 and 75 operating upon the following plate and roll ll uponpthe leading plate, and then when the leading plate leaves roll Tl, all three rolls operate upon the following Finally this plate leaves the first roll'l3 and for a time is driven by both rolls l5 and Ti, while a third plate is engaged anddriven by roll/E3. Thusuni-form feed of the work is assured, since never less than two of the feed rolls andsome of the time all three rolls are in plate are provided with a rubber abutment memcarried by the hubs H2 and H3 mounted upon the pairs of vertical shafts I l 4 ancll I5. supported upon the ball thrust bearings i ll in the bearing one pair lid of these vertical shafts.-

posts H9. is driven from. the motor i2! through variable speed pulley 22, belt I23, counter shaft I25 and; vertical shafts ml, with bevelled gearing. I29 at: the lower ends and spur reduction gearing 13!:

at the upper ends. The hubs for tires H9 are tires Hi are fixed upon their shafts H5.

The'shafts H4 carry the ratchet wheels i3 3; and the hubs for. tires Ht carry the pawls 35 to permit the hand advance of a plate past tires MD as described in connection with a similar arrangement in the construction shown in .Figs' The second pair H5 of shai'tsi's" 3, 4. and 5. driven through sprocket and chain connections I33 from the first mentioned pair ll l.

The tubes or tires are inflated suiiiciently to give the required driving pressure upon the opposite sides or faces of the plate; yet yield to permit the passage of the molding or binding I63 at the front and rear edges thereof.

tires themselves directing the plates to the "p'o' sition for engagement, and also maintaining, them I in proper vertical position in their passage through the feed unit.

The plates illustrated in the drawings formed of sheet steel bound around their edges their upper portion with an aperture 335 through which passes the e-shaped supporting 331.

The upper hook of this link engages the opening or eye in the depending member 339 of the trolley which is'provided with four wheelsfl li rolling upon the spaced L shaped rails or tracks 3! welded to the inverted U-shaped member I carried by the E beams t lt of the structure.

While the plates are not removed from their l M, while- 7 No guides L are required with the modified construction, the

are

trolleys at any point during their cycle of operation, nevertheless the links 331 permit easy disconnection in the event that, for one reason or another, it is desired to remove a plate for inspection or replacement. Furthermore, the double pivotal connectionlof the links 33'! permits the slight vertical lifting of the plate when it engages the grooved rolls of the feeding mechanism, thetrolley at such times being relieved of practically all the weight of the plate, which is now borne by the feed rolls, insuring steady and regular advance of the entire line of plates through the skin-applying station and intervening units.

In the operation of the conveyor above described, the plates remain suspended at all times upon the trolleys which travel upon the overhead rails around the closed orbit of the conveyor. The first step in their cycle of operations is the advancing by the operator to the feeding unit of a plate from which a dried skin has just been removed. From this point the plate is being advanced by the feed unit, first by direct contact therewith and then by the movement of the following plates as they each in turn pass through such feed unit.

After the plate leaves the feed unit it is carried through the washing unit where it is thoroughly cleaned by the constantly flowing jets of water and the rotating brushes. Next it passes through the drying unit where wipers or squeegees remove the water remaining on the surfaces, the wipers being automatically lifted to permit the passage of the rear and front edges of adjacent plates with their projecting molding or reinforcing strips.

The plate, still driven by the feed unit through the intervening plates, next passes the paste applying devices where both faces are given an even coating of paste by the vertically oscillating spray nozzles.

Finally the plates are carried past the skinapplying station and positions, of which five are shown in the drawings, where pairs of operatives standing on opposite sides of the plates apply and stretch the skins, a part at a time, until the entire skin is stretched out on the plate.

As soon as the final stretching is completed, the plates are propelled to the tunnel drier through which they are advanced by a separate and independent power drive at a relatively low rate of speed while held in closely spaced, transverse arrangement.

In the conveyor herein shown and described, the power means for propelling the plates occupies but a small portion of the operative length of the conveyor, thus simplifying the installation and reducing its cost. Furthermore, the application of the power drive directly to the plates avoids the necessity of long conveyor chains and reduces power consumption and the likelihood oi. stoppages from breakdowns.

Where the plates are fed by engagement of the power drive mechanism with the bottom edge of the plates, as shown in one specific form, the wear is taken by the heavy reinforc- Where in the claimsthe term plates is used, this is to be understood as not limited to the.

leather drying plates specifically shown and constructions which are adapted to be suspended from conveyor trolleys and to be advanced by direct contact of their bottom edges or side faces with power driven feed rolls.

Nor is the invention to be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements herein shown and described. but maybe embodied in other constructions and arrangements within the scope of the language of the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a conveyor system of the type having an overhead track, trolleys thereon, and plates suspended from the trolleys, power driven feeding means for advancing the plates along the track, said means comprising three power driven rolls positioned beneath the track in the line of feed of the plates to engage the bottom-edge of a suspended plate to advance the same, and an over running clutch to permit free rotation of the first roll in the line of feed at a speed in excess of the driven speed of the two rolls, the two other rolls being mounted in a frame pivoted midway the rolls upon a horizontal axis transverse to the line of feed.

2. In a conveyor system of the type having an overhead track, trolleys thereon, and plates suspended from the trolleys, power driven feeding means for advancing the plates along the track, said means comprising two pair of power driven rolls each provided with pneumatic tired peripheries and mounted to turn upon vertical axes, the rolls of each pair being positioned opposite one another to engage opposite faces of a plate to advance the same, and the pairs being spaced in the direction of the feed of the plates a distance less than the horizontal length of a suspended plate, the first pair of rolls being driven through an over running clutch to permit free rotation of said rolls in excess of the driven speed of the second pair of rolls.

3. In a conveyor system of the type having an overhead track, trolleys thereon, and plates suspended from the trolleys to move edgewise along the conveyor, mechanism for driving said plates comprising driving rolls spaced from one another in the direction of travel of the plates a distance less than the horizontal length of a suspended plate, said rolls being arranged to engage said plates and advance them along said conveyor in end-to-end relation, driving means for rotating each roll, and an over-running clutch between said driving means and the first roll in the line of feed operative to permit free rotation of said first roll at a speed in excess of the driven speed of the rolls.

4. In a conveyor system of the type having an overhead track, trolleys thereon, and plates suspended from the trolleys to move edgewise along the conveyor, mechanism for driving said plates comprising two pairs of driving rolls, each pair being spaced apart in the direction 0! travel of the plates a distance less than the horizontal length of a suspended plate, the driving rolls of each pair being arranged to engage the opposite faces of the suspended plates and advance them along said conveyor in end-to-end relation, and means for driving at least one roll of each pair.

5. In a conveyor system of the type having an overhead track, trolleys thereon, and plates suspended from the trolleys to move edgewise along the conveyor, mechanism for driving said plates comprising two pairs of driving rolls each "I pair being spaced apart in the direction of travel of the plates a distance less than the horizontal length of asuspended plate, the driving rolls of each pair having pneumatic tired peripheries and being mounted to turn on vertical axes so as to engage the opposite faces of the suspended plates and advance them along said conveyor in ,end-to-end relation; and means for driving at least one roll of each pair.

' ROGER L. GRIFFIN. NORMAN Y. MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The foliowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number 8 V UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Speer Feb. 24', 1874 'B liven Sept, 1, 1885 Irish et a1 May 30, 192; Raymond Nov. 6; 1928 Ladd Jan. 25', 1933 Storer June 16; 1936 Oh1ison Jan. 19, I93? Argabrite Dec. 21; 1 93! Iverson Aug. 8, 1939 

